Location: I stalk the fringes of humanity and dwell amongst the broken and forgotten.

Age: 31

Posts: 243

Thanked: 63

Thorpe Marsh Cooling Towers April 2009

Went to this place with BillAnd. Whilst I found the size of the towers very impressive and their shape beautiful, I didn't think that there would be much to this site and thankfully I was so wrong! Not only are there plenty of piles of rubble to investigate, buddliea bushes and bits still standing but if you are an audio person like myself, this place is a wonderfully special treat!

It is sad to see a place demolished but as Thorpe Marsh reminded me that sometimes, a bit of rubble can be fun and even pretty. Who can resist the fun of crawling over wobbly bricks or looking underneath pieces of scrap? Sure it would have been more of a playground had it all been intact but buddliea poking through the hills of brick and mortar, lots of things to look at and the wonderful weather we had that Sunday made it a delight to be here.

We went inside one of the huge towers that had been completely stripped out and as soon as BillAnd introduced me to the unique and beautiful audio properties of the structure, I spent a large amount of time bouncing clicks off the chimney and making other sharp sounds that would tumble down around us loudly as if they were clattering as they fell. BillAnd speculated that I could have played in there all day with the pretty noises....and he's right. Other parts of the building let the wind whistle through in a way that was very soothing and made me feel very happy to be there.

Perhaps whilst we're on this topic, I should explain something that perplexes a lot of people that come into contact with me. I am very much an audio person and use it heavily to aid memory and to learn. My hearing is normal but I take in a lot through my ears. Sometimes you may hear me making unusual sounds when I'm in a very generic looking place. They act like audio breadcrumbs and will prompt me to remember a certain place/object. A painted number and "click-ck squeak" will stick in my head a little better than just visual stimulus alone. It has prevented me getting lost many times in the past. Sometimes, I'll assign a whole song to certain things but when exploring, I tend to stick to short sounds because I like my mind clear to enjoy the experience fully. Ever see me stand some place and tilt my head to the wind through a corridor or the creaking of metal? That is because I enjoy the acoustics of a place as much as I do the sights, textures and smells.

A cooling tower...very big.

Look at all this lovely wasteland!

One of these wasn't entirely stripped out. Was fun poking around the girders even if it didn't sound as awesome as the empty ones.

Wanted to go up here but there was no way left for me.

Wheels and cogs are always fun.

Looked like part of a children's adventure playground.

Obligatory rusty metal thingy!

Look at all the lovely wateland to investigate. Could easily spend an entire day out here.